


Tomorrow We Fight

by Zinae



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Gen, Kinda relationship but not really, Krolia and Kolivan are proud Keef parents, Krolinav and Krolia deserve happiness, They bonded okay?, actually comfort, angstyish, i cant tag send help, i have a thing for late night meetings, it ran away from me, it was SUPPOSED TO BE FLOOF, just wanted to write some krolivan, srsly they are stuck somewhere in between, this show will be the death of me send help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-10-08 11:21:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17385533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zinae/pseuds/Zinae
Summary: He witnessed too much and never enough to understand, and yet, he still stood right behind her, with careful, hidden touches grounding her into the present, instead of letting her float away into the back of her mind, where the darkness awaits her with open arms and a gentle smile.





	Tomorrow We Fight

**Author's Note:**

> (I only managed to watch the first two episodes of S8, so bear with me XD This is Krolia and Kolivan centric, with a side of Keef and many mentions of ppl long since gone so there XD)

_ Cold in the violence  _

_ After the war  _

_ Hope is a fire  _

_ To keep us warm _

  
  


Most days, they are training, most nights, she spends with Keith curled into her side and Kolivan comfortably nestled by her feet, Kosmo wedged somewhere in between, because after all this time, they are all just not used to sleeping alone anymore.

 

This night was supposed to be no different, but nightmares are a given in their life, so Krolia wakes with sweat trailing down her skin and a muted scream she hides in her son's hair.

He keeps sleeping, thank the skies, nut she cant and the room, its too small, too much, too little air, she cant breathe, the war, the war…

 

A hand on her shoulder, Kolivan’s eyes on her. She can feel his presence grounding her, the warmth in the gesture, familiar after all the time they had spend out there, looking for the remains of their people. 

The few who survived the purge of the Galra forces, the very few who had managed to hide. 

They found too little almost too late, but they found them and Krolia felt relief, but right now?

Right now she can't even breathe, there is only terror in her bones and weariness in her eyes. Keith keeps sleeping when she lets go of him, her fingers itching to just pick him up and take him with her, but he needs his rest. And Kosmo is still here, with him.

When she stands up, Kolivan still holding onto her, Kosmo just nudges her feet aside and takes her place behind her child and she smiles, sad and still not quite there, but it’s something.

She barely has the brain capacity to slip into her shoes, Kolivan grabs a jacket on the way out and there is no word spoken, only a hand on her arm now, dragging her through halls, up a few flights of stairs, until there is suddenly air and the sky.

She finally, finally manages to take a breath, gasping for air just as much as her mind is grasping for some semblance of normalcy, an inaudible sob escaping her before she can stop it. She feels Kolivan’s presence shifting, moving from the grounding presence on her skin into her personal bubble, his eyes worried instead of their usual strict expression.

“Thanks, I feel better.”, she shifts back, away from him, because she knows what will come next, but it’s too late already, he was too close and her skin burned where his breath ghosted over it.

You can go now, she wants to say, I just need a moment. 

Please go away and leave me here like this, she wants to whisper, I don’t want you to see me as this weak shell of myself.

But of course he has seen her in worse states, in the last remains of her room in the HQ of the Blade, when she had crushed everything holding her there in her hands in the throes of grief, having just left the one good thing in her life. He had listened to her stories about earth and how she described Keith to him, her precious, little treasure she had had to leave to protect him from the cruelty of everything this forsaken war had brought them.

He had seen her grief fallen comrades and praying for the safety of her child.Her calm, as she watched trusted friends being executed by the empire, her grief as the realization that her beloved died, finally hit.

He had seen the recognition in her eyes and the sorrow on her lips, when they had accepted Keith into the Blade, her rage at him and the world.

 

He witnessed too much and never enough to understand, and yet, he still stood right behind her, with careful, hidden touches grounding her into the present, instead of letting her float away into the back of her mind, where the darkness awaits her with open arms and a gentle smile.

No rest for the wicked, her mind whispers, only war awaiting us every step of the way.

The moon is almost full tonight, the skies clear and stars bright and hopeful, the whole atmosphere gentle, the peace a lie, as good and hopeful as the remains of humanity at her feet.

“I dreamt of his death.”, she startles as she hears his answer and whirls around to stare at Kolivan like he grew a second head. He ignores her, doesn’t elaborate, because they both know just who he is talking about.

He is sleeping with a giant blue wolf by his side, several floors below, the last good thing in her life.

They sit down on the edge of the roof, her feet dangling for a second, Kolivan’s arm almost brushing hers, but she can barely feel his warmth and scurries closer, closer, until she is in his presence this time.

It’s a comfort, what they have, but little more, because they have both forgotten how to love, unless it’s tiny, small and angry. But they have at least this. 

It’s more than most people have these days, so they use it, they stay in each others bubble for as long as possible, used to it by now, after years of fighting side by side, fighting for each other, fighting with each other, because after all this time, Krolia has gone soft and Kolivan even more fierce than before.

They have killed together.

Especially these last few months, while they searched for what was left of a broken blade, desperate to regain it’s old strength. There is little privacy on the run and nights get lonely very soon very fast and they had only each other. 

Old habits die hard.

 

She lifts her head, feels the wind washing over her, drying unshed tears, her fingers still itching, the burn in her liúngs still present, but she swallows it down and opens her mouth, an answer on the tip of her tongue, but there is little she can say that will fit, so in the end, she stays quiet.

“I wanted to win this before your child grew up. You spoke so highly of him, I had hoped that one day i would meet him and that you would introduce me as his uncle who helped you safe the universe. Who would have known that that angry child looking for answers would be your son…”

She snorted, “You?”

He chuckled, or rather, huffed out something resembling a chuckle, “Yes, i did. You two are too similar for him to be anything but. I knew the second I saw that smug grin of his after he bested my men. For a second I saw you, standing in the same room, with the same smile, after you beat Antok into the ground. I believe he insulted you back then?”

“He implied that I had not deserved my place in the upper ranks.”, she huffed, but smiled, “I just taught him a lesson in respect.”

“He certainly learned it.”

They both chuckled.

They became quiet again.

“I always dream of losing Keith.”, she finally whispers, “He has a self-sacrificial streak a mile wide, no idea how to handle it and I know that one day, he might not come back. I can’t stop him, I can’t force him to sit back and watch the world fight for him, not after everything he went through, but I still… I am still terrified that one day, the Paladins will come back without him. I am scared that one day, I will visit both my husband’s grave and his as well, right beside it. I am scared that…” Your grave will be there as well, because you are just as much a part of me now.

She remains silent, her admission heavy and incomplete.

“Don’t die out there.”, he answers and this time she does not dare to look up, but he shifts beside her, there is rustling, fabric, she recognizes, until his jacket falls around her shoulders, the closest thing to a hug she will ever get from him.

Kolivan does not know how to show kindness, or even affection, unless its small things, so she takes, greedy as she is, whatever she can.

She lies to herself, that it’s just because they are the last Blades left.

“Don’t go”, her voice is muffled by the fabric, as she burrows into the warmth, finally realizing just how cold it is out here.

The jacket is warm and smells faintly of fire and iron, she can feel the hilt of Kolivan’s knife poking her side.

 

They stay quiet after this.

 

They watch the stars, side by side, their arms touching, two soldiers holding onto the last moments of peace before they would go out into the fight once more.

Krolia won’t ask for more.

No rest for the wicked, her mind whispers, but at least you are not alone in this.

She feels eyes on her, something warm, gentle, but when she dares a glance to her right, Kolivan is already staring at the horizon.

 

And when they hear steps behind them, two sets of them, they still stay just like that.

Keith settles by his mother’s side, his head on her leg, hidden away in his blanket, Kosmo nudges Kolivan, until he lifts his arm, and settles by the man’s side like he belongs there.

Krolias hand wanders into Keith’s hair, stroking the soft strands.

 

Later, much, much later, Lance finds them like this, cuddled together, Krolia leaning against Kolivan, fast asleep, as the man stays vigilant, staring at the horizon, a softly glowing dog his companion.

 

_ Oh that light, oh is bright  _

_ Sleep for today  _

_ But tomorrow we fight _


End file.
